06/18/07 Against the Sell of Fur in GUESS shops

As part of the campaign "For Croatia Without Fur," Animal Friends joined an international campaign against selling of fur in GUESS shops, sending an appeal to GUESS shops in Zagreb and Rijeka, as well as GUESS Italia European HQ in Florence and GUESS, Inc. HQ in Los Angeles, USA. In the letter, that can be seen below, it is demanded to stop the sell of fur apparel and fur trim.

GUESS AccessoriesJankomir 3310000 Zagreb

June 18, 2007

Dear GUESS Team,

I am writing to you from Animal Friends, an animal rights organization.

We received information that you still sell fur in your shops and want to use the opportunity to invite you to think about fur and where it comes from, what effect fur production on our environment has and how much animal suffering is connected to "making" fur apparel.

Fur animals are killed by electrocution or gas, while trapped animals endure excruciating pain before they die or are clubbed to death by the trapper. None of the killing methods are painless or reliable – especially when carried out routinely and en masse, there is no justification for this killing, and it is a doom for each single animal.

Real fur is frequently used on garments such as coats, gloves, boots, and sweaters. The majority of fur from foxes that are killed on fur farms is not used as full length coats but as fur trim. Many of the animals trapped in North America, such as coyote, mink, marten, fox, and raccoon are also used for fur trim. Since garments containing real fur often are inexpensive and do not have accurate labels, many people are not aware that their fur collar, boot trim or glove linings are made of real fur which is obtained through the same cruel process as fur coats.

Nearly all the foxes raised on fur farms end up as coat trimmings. Other animals typically used for trims include mink, chinchilla, raccoon, coyote, lamb, and rabbit. It is now well known that dogs and cats are being killed in Asia and their fur sewn into trimmings and accessories.

In many areas the environment has suffered severely due to fur farming: surface water and even groundwater have been contaminated and forest growth has suffered. Animal droppings and urine contain nitrogen, phosphorus and ammonia and cause serious environmental issues. Another serious problem is the amount of fuel and other forms of energy consumed by fur farming.

Fur farming raises numerous animal protection, ethical and environmental problems. Following Great Britain and Austria, Croatia must also shut down its fur farms, according to the new Animal Protection Act, national legislation enacted due to moral issues relating to the welfare of fur animals. This ban on breeding animal for fur in Croatia will become effective January 1, 2017, with a transition period of ten years.

Because of these shocking facts this year Animal Friends launched the campaign "For Croatia Without Fur," with the aim to free the Croatian market from fur. We can already now be proud of two achievements we have made. One is the above mentioned national ban on breeding animals for fur and the other is the ban on import of seal products, which means that in Croatia no more seal fur can be bought.

Since we also have two GUESS shops here in Croatia we would like to appeal to you to consequently stop selling fur in all of your stores and in this way become part of the growing number of cruelty-free fashions stores that decided that fur is not necessary to make good products. Animals must not suffer and die for our good appearance.

With this appeal we support international campaigns and organizations that endeavor to convince GUESS to cut out fur from its fashion, not only for the animal’s sake but also GUESS' reputation, and we hope to hear soon of your ethical decision!

We are here at your disposal for any further information needed and remain with kind regards,

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Animal Friends is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 2001 with the aim to promote animal protection and animal rights as well as veganism, as ethical, ecological and healthy lifestyle.
Animal Friends Croatia is a member organization of EVU,
Eurogroup for Animals, ECEAE, FFA, IAFC and OIPA.